Angel Roar Blog

Emotional abuse, or psychological maltreatment, is a fairly common form of child abuse but one that is often difficult to identify or categorize. Although complex and difficult to define, experts agree that occasional negative actions or responses to a child are not considered emotional abuse (we all lose our heads at times and say things we regret later). Regardless, even occasional emotional abuse may be harmful to the child. As Douglas Besharov states in Recognizing Child Abuse, “emotional abuse is an assault on the child’s psyche, just as physical abuse is an assault on the child’s body.”

On October 10, 2010, eight year old Elisa Cardenaz (Cardenas) was playing outside her Fresno, California home with five of her friends when a man in a red pickup truck approached them. The man lured the girls over to his truck. Two female adults recognized something was wrong and hollered for the girls to run. The man quickly grabbed Elisa and drove away as witnesses chased the vehicle.

The Child Protective Services system in the United States “has outlived its usefulness,” and should be scrapped in favor of other approaches to protecting at-risk kids, according to a leading expert on injury prevention. Law enforcement personnel should investigate abuse allegations, public health nurses should help at-risk families before abuse or neglect occurs, and social workers should be involved in counseling and helping families, but not investigating crime…

During a recession the loss of jobs results in added stress, anxiety, and depression for those unfortunate enough to be severely impacted by an economic downtown. Sadly, that implications of a economic downturn trickle downward and affects the children of those who have lost jobs or other revenue streams. Studies have proven that during economic downturns, the rate of child abuse cases does indeed rise.

One of the most effective methods of therapy is Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy or TF-CBT (TFCBT). Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Theory is based on the theory that traumatic events produce information that is hard for the victim to categorize, process, and fit into their existing scheme. When a child cannot truly comprehend a traumatic event, the strong emotions that resulted from the traumatic event are left unprocessed. When the child attempts to process the information, they may either distort the facts to fit within the realm of what they already know or understand, or they may alter their beliefs to fit the unprocessed information into their existing scheme. Either is bad. It leads to guilt, shame, self-blame, and a host of other problems. To counter this, the child must be taught how to deal with the confusing emotions in order to correct maladaptive beliefs.

Wisconsin Republican Senate nominee Ron Johnson has long voiced his objections to the Wisconsin state legislation allowing victims of child abuse to sue their abusers. Yesterday, a video showing Ron Johnson testifying against the bill in the state legislature leaked to the web. In his testimony, Ron Johnson makes a shocking statement.

This survey is intended for child sexual abuse survivors. Please only complete this survey if you were sexually abused as a child. This survey is anonymous. Results will be supplied to child abuse organizations...

Finding out your child, or any child, has been sexually abused sends waves of anger, hurt, and despair throughout your body. You must remain in control though and keep your emotions in check, especially when in front of the child. If the child made the disclosure herself then this is all the more important. When you discover that your child has been sexually abused, follow these steps.

There are lots of ways the grownup can trick the kid into thinking that their abuse is OK or trick the kid into thinking the kid should not tell someone about the abuse. It does not matter what the grownup says. If they are hurting you, by hitting you, being mean to you, or sexually abusing you, then you need to tell someone about it. There is NOT A SINGLE REASON for you to keep it a secret – no matter what the grownup says.

First off, lets get two things straight. Write these down, say them to yourself three times a day, whatever it takes to get these two things in your head. They are VERY important. (1) This is not your fault. (2) You must tell someone about this. Here’s how to do it.

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Angel Roar aims to teach kids about the child abuse epidemic and the importance of disclosure and to assist parents in understanding how common the problem of child abuse really is and how to cope with a child abuse incident. Angel Roar provides a source of open, “in your face” commentary and news about the child abuse problem while providing interactive, online community based services to assist both parents and children in their recovery.

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